Samsung Electronics Falls Behind TSMC Again in Q4... Likely Lost World's No.1 Sales Title Once More

TSMC Estimated at 25 Trillion Won, Samsung Estimated at 19 to 20 Trillion Won

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] Taiwan's TSMC, the world's largest foundry (semiconductor contract manufacturing) company, appears to have surpassed Samsung Electronics in the fourth quarter of last year to maintain the world's top semiconductor sales position.

According to Bloomberg on the 11th, TSMC recently announced that its sales in the fourth quarter of last year reached 625.5 billion Taiwan dollars (approximately 25.6 trillion KRW).

This represents a 43% increase compared to the same period last year. However, it fell short of the market forecast of 636 billion Taiwan dollars (approximately 26 trillion KRW).

Bloomberg interpreted this as indicating that even TSMC, equipped with technology and scale, cannot escape the impact of global consumption slowdown due to rising interest rates and accelerating inflation.

Nonetheless, TSMC is estimated to have maintained the world's number one semiconductor sales position in the fourth quarter, following the third quarter of last year.

This is because Samsung Electronics, which had previously lost the top semiconductor sales spot to TSMC in the third quarter, performed worse due to the downturn in the memory semiconductor market. Memory semiconductors are Samsung Electronics' core business.

According to Samsung Electronics' preliminary results announced on the 6th, sales in the fourth quarter of last year were 70 trillion KRW, down 8.5% from the same period last year. Operating profit plunged 69% to 4.3 trillion KRW.

Performance by business segment was not disclosed. Securities firms estimate Samsung Electronics' semiconductor (DS) division sales in the fourth quarter to be between 19 trillion and 20 trillion KRW, less than TSMC's.

In particular, starting with losses in the NAND flash business in the fourth quarter, there are forecasts that the entire DS division will turn to quarterly losses in the first or second quarter of this year.

Samsung Electronics rose to the world's number one in semiconductor sales in 2021, surpassing Intel thanks to the memory boom. However, it was overtaken by TSMC, which focuses on foundry. Despite the economic downturn, foundry demand is considered more resilient than memory.

Samsung Electronics will announce its fourth quarter and annual results for last year on the 31st.